Paint World
Paint World is a 1999 American animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Universal Feature Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film was directed by Audel LaRoque (in his directorial debut) from a screenplay by LaRoque, Irene Mecchi and Thomas Lennon and a story by LaRoque, and Michael Wildshill, and stars the voices of Haley Joel Osment, Beverley Mitchell, Patricia Arquette, Alan Cumming, David Gallagher, Rachel Dratch, Cheri Oteri, Molly Shannon, and Dennis Hopper. Set in a world based on paint and colors, the film centers on a young boy named Deon Splatt (Osment), who uses an oversized paintbrush to defend the world's liveliness against Gerry Disgill (Hopper), a demented, colorblind elder and the owner of the B&W Squad who intends to desaturate the world in order to satisfy his "nostalgic taste". Paint World was originally released on December 25, 1999 to positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, characters, music, and voice acting. It was a success at the box office, earning over $452 million worldwide on its $48 million budget, making it the second highest-grossing animated film of 1999, as well as the fifth highest-grossing film of the year overall. A television series based on the film aired from September 2000 to March 2001. Plot Coming soon! Voice cast * Haley Joel Osment as Deon Splatt, a kind and creative 11-year-old painter (singing voice provided by E.G. Daily) * Beverley Mitchell as Gracie GaColor, Deon's love interest. * Patricia Arquette as Linda Splatt, Deon's mother. * Alan Cumming as Richard Splatt, Deon's father. * David Gallagher as Zach Splatt, Deon's bigger brother. * Rachel Dratch as Aunt Maggie, Deon's aunt. * Cheri Oteri as Mary * Molly Shannon as Maria * Dennis Hopper as Gerry Disgill, the founder of the B&W Squad who is one of the few to be disillusioned with the modern multicolored world. * Audel LaRoque as Chuck * Michael Wildshill as Tucker * Gregg Berger as Steve * Gary Hall as Kenny * Irene Mecchi as Karen * Frank Welker as Splash, Deon's pet rainbow dog. Additional voices * Jack Angel * Robert Bergen * Mary Kay Bergman * Rodger Bumpass * Corey Burton * Robert Carpenter * Philip L. Clarke * Jim Cummings * Jennifer Darling * Debi Derryberry * Paul Eiding * Bill Farmer * Pat Fraley * Gary Hall * Audel LaRoque * Sherry Lynn * Danny Mann * Mickie McGowan * Amy McNeill * Denise Pickering * Patrick Pinney * Phil Proctor * Brianne Siddall * Lillias White * Michael Wildshill Singers * Beth Anderson * Laurie Anderson * Susan Boyd * Amick Byram * Hamilton Camp * Alvin Chea * Randy Crenshaw * Lorraine Feather * Nick Jameson * Edie Lehman * Andrea Robinson * Laurie Shillinger * Carmen Twillie * B.J. Ward * Cindy Wilson Production Development The idea of Paint World was originally conceived by Audel LaRoque in the late 1980s while working at Multimedia Animation in North Hollywood; he then came up with the story of the film, which was about a boy who attempts to save his world from losing its colors. During the production of Multimedia's first animated film East of the Sun and West of the Moon in 1992, LaRoque began working on the original treatment of Paint World, which was completely different from the final version of the film. In the draft, Deon Splatt was named Splat and was a human child raised by humanoid creatures known as "paintrolls." Years passed, Splat, now a young adult, had found out that the world is coming apart by losing colors that were stolen by wicked monsters so he teamed up with his friends to stop the monsters. After their victory of wiping out the monsters, Splat then became the leader of the paintrolls. Splat is the only main character in the original draft who made it to the final version as Deon Splatt. Some of the characters in the draft later became Deon's family and friends in the final film. Michael Wildshill, head of Multimedia Animation, approved of the film's script and pre-production for Paint World started. The studio then looked for actors to be cast in the film. Scott Weinger, known for his role as the title character of the 1992 Disney animated film Aladdin, was also being reportedly considered for the role of Splat. Wildshill's choices for the other characters included Jim Carrey, Bill Murray and Kate Winslet. In late 1995, while developing the project on its way through, Multimedia, Inc. had recently merged with Universal Studios parent company MCA Inc., and LaRoque was allowed to transfer to the new Universal Feature Animation studio in Universal City to direct Paint World. The staff brought The Lion King writer Irene Mecchi on to help rewrite their 1992 script with additional input from Thomas Lennon and David Silverman. Casting Coming soon! Animation Coming soon! Music The film's original soundtrack was released by Reprise Records on November 30, 1999. The songs for the film were composed by LaRoque and English lyricist Tim Rice, while the score was composed by John Debney. The score for the film, composed by Debney, was released through Varèse Sarabande on December 21, 1999. This is a list of musical numbers for the film: Release Paint World was theatrically released by Universal Pictures on Christmas Day, December 25, 1999 in the United States and Canada. Marketing The film was accompanied by a promotional campaign by Burger King. Trailers * The first teaser was released on November 13, 1998, and was shown before I'll Be Home for Christmas, The Rugrats Movie, A Bug's Life, and Babe: Pig in the City. * The first official trailer was released on May 19, 1999, and was shown before Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Tarzan, Hatty in the Big City: The Movie, Muppets From Space, and Inspector Gadget. * The second official trailer was released on September 3, 1999, and was shown before Marcus Troy: The Movie 2, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Spooksgiving and Toy Story 2. * TV spots began to air from November to December of 1999. Home media Paint World was released on VHS and DVD on May 16, 2000. The DVD release included an audio commentary by Audel LaRoque and Michael Wildshill, a 28-minute making-of documentary, a gallery of concept art, storyboards, test footage, deleted scenes, and DVD-ROM features. On June 8, 2004, a 2-disc "Special Edition" was released featuring the same special features from the original 2000 DVD as well as new ones including a sneak preview of the 2004 Universal animated film Computeropolis and a THX optimizer. The film was released for the first time on Blu-ray on May 25, 2010. Reception Critical response The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 84% approval rating with an average rating of 8/10 based on 167 reviews. The site's critical consensus states: "Paint World's title promises colorful family fun, enriched by a high-spirited voice ensemble, a visionary plot, and plenty of gags throughout." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 69 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three out of four stars and called it "an artistic animated painting-oriented musical that highly lives up to the successful level as other Disney classics like Aladdin and The Lion King." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and describing it as "amazingly creative and outstanding with the heart and charm of other animated hits." Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three out of four stars and said "Having the familiar standards and charm of Ama and the Mysterious Crystal as well as the interesting concept, Paint World is a new coming of age for Universal Feature Animation." USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna said that "Universal Pictures' Paint World often entertains the family-friendly audience that keeps them joyful." However, some critics disliked the film's unexpected similarities with the animated films of the Disney Renaissance. Mark Caro of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two and a half stars out of four and compared the film to The Lion King, saying that "Paint World feels like one of those shameless Disney rip-offs that have a story that sounds familiar to us." Andrew Sarris of The New York Observer criticized the film's characterization, and noted that the relationship between Deon and Gracie was akin to "Aladdin and Jasmine all over again." On the more negative side, Christy Lemire of Associated Press called Paint World a poor man's Aladdin. Box office The film was released on December 25, 1999, and grossed $46,865,041 on its opening weekend (Saturday, December 25, 1999), opening at the top of box office. By the end of its theatrical run, it got to earn a worldwide gross of $452,184,659, becoming the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of the year, as well as the second highest-grossing animated film of 1999 behind Toy Story 2. Accolades Other media Video games Paint World has spawned four video games: *''Paint World'' was released in 1999 and in 2000 by Universal Interactive Studios for PlayStation, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, and Dreamcast. *''Paint World: Activity Center, an educational game, was released in 1999 for Windows and Mac. *Paint World: Disgill Strikes Back'' was released in 2002 by Traveller's Tales for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. *''Paint World: Deon's Huge Journey'' was released in 2003 by Universal Interactive for the Game Boy Advance. Television series Paint World is a short-lived American animated television series created by Universal Television Animation in 2000, based on Universal's animated feature film of the same name. The series aired on Gingo from September 23, 2000 to March 17, 2001, and continues the story of the 1999 film. Other appearances Coming soon! Transcripts Main To see the main transcript of the film, click here. Trailers To see the transcript for the trailers of the film, click here. Category:Films Category:1990s Category:1999 Category:Paint World Category:Universal Animation Studios animated films Category:Universal Pictures animated films Category:G-rated films Category:Traditionally animated films Category:Academy Award winning films